Rio Tinto Posts Weakest Half-Year Profit In Years
Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) reported its weakest half-year profit since 2020, as soft iron prices and weather-related disruptions in Western Australia weighed on results. The top global miner posted a 22% drop in net profit to $4.5 billion for the six months ended June 30, 2025. Underlying earnings declined 16% year-on-year to $4.81 billion, missing analyst expectations of $5.05 billion.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) fell 5% to $11.5 billion, while operating cash flow held steady at $6.9 billion. However, free cash flow dropped sharply by 31% to $2.0 billion, reflecting higher capital expenditure. Rio Tinto’s net debt more than doubled to $14.6 billion, primarily due to the $6.7 billion acquisition of Arcadium Lithium, finalized in March.
“We are delivering very resilient financial results with an improving operational performance, helped by our increasingly diversified portfolio,” said outgoing CEO Jakob Stausholm. “Underlying EBITDA of $11.5 billion and operating cash flow of $6.9 billion, despite a 13% lower iron ore price, demonstrate the growing contribution from our aluminium and copper businesses and our Pilbara operations’ strong recovery from the four cyclones in the first quarter.”
Stausholm will step down on August 25, with Simon Trott, head of the iron ore division, appointed as the new CEO.
First-half performance was mixed across the board. Group production rose 6% on a copper-equivalent basis. Copper output surged 54% at the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia. Aluminium benefited from strong operational improvements at the Amrun and Gove sites, while bauxite production remained flat.
Iron ore rebounded in the second quarter after severe weather disruptions in the first quarter, with Pilbara recording its strongest quarterly output since 2018. Despite this, iron ore unit costs in Pilbara rose to $24.3 per wet metric ton (wmt), up from $23.2/wmt a year earlier. The company reaffirmed its full-year Pilbara shipment guidance at the lower end of the 323–338 million ton range.
Rio Tinto spent $72 million in capital expenditure and $181 million in operating costs toward decarbonization, aiming to cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030 compared to a 2018 baseline. First-half emissions stood at 15.6 million tons CO₂-equivalent, down 14%. The company also advanced agreements with Yinhawangka Traditional Owners in Western Australia, including a co-designed heritage management plan for the Western Range project.
Despite declining cash flows, Rio maintained its 50% interim payout policy, declaring a dividend of $2.4 billion or $1.48 per share.
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